The Mettle of a Man
by Beledi1113
Summary: How far would Castle go to protect his friends at the 12th and at what personal cost to himself and his relationship to the team? This takes place between "The Belly of the Beast" and "Veritas". Does not include any spoilers for "Veritas" but leads up to it. This is AU because I'm adding some back story and some original characters from Castle's past.
1. Chapter 1

**The Mettle of a Man **

Summary – How far would Castle go to protect his friends at the 12th and at what personal cost to himself and his relationship to the team? This takes place between "The Belly of the Beast" and "Veritas". Does not include any spoilers for "Veritas".

Author's notes – This is AU because I'm adding some back story and some original characters from Castle's past.

Disclaimer – Don't own Castle; Marlowe, ABC, and Disney do. Just writing for fun and because I have these weird plot bunnies that pop into my head.

Rated strong T for language and innuendo.

**Chapter 1 – A Roast by Any Other Name**

Beckett stared at the murder board and hoped for some great insight that would instantaneously solve this case before the weekend because, damn it, she had plans and they didn't include dealing with a dead body. And the more she thought about it, the more she felt like calling off tonight's poker game so she and Castle could be alone.

Castle had left on a 5-day, 9-city marathon book tour on Monday – his last before the wedding – and was due back on the 5 pm flight. In fact, she thought, looking at her watch, he had probably already landed and taken a car service home since she was stuck at work.

Because of his hectic schedule and this case, they hadn't talked much, but played phone tag all week, leaving loving messages and promises to spend quality time with one another when he got back. Now, it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

Beckett stared at the picture of the murdered man. The case was a strange one, and so far, they had no leads even though the murder had happened early Tuesday morning.

The woman who called 911 said all she saw was a man being shot in a dimly lit alley from her 3rd floor bathroom window while she snuck a smoke. The street officers were there in a matter of minutes and caught just a glimpse of a hooded figure running off.

They hadn't even been able to identify the victim. His fingerprints had been burnt off and his picture wasn't in any database so he was still listed as "John Doe."

The only thing he had with him was a briefcase chained to his wrist, which, in a morbid twist, the suspect attempted to take by sawing the man's hand off. The street officers had arrived before he could finish the task though.

And the only thing in the briefcase was a will for Eugene Alsos Teller, dated October 20, 1989, drafted by a non-existent law firm.

Thoroughly missing Castle's crazy inputs about time-travelers, CIA conspiracies, and ninja assassins, Beckett looked at her watch to check the time again and then looked back at the murder board, frowning.

Espo and Ryan's sniggering at their desks finally caught her attention and she looked over at them.

"Hey, guys, wanna share with the class?" she asked.

The boys looked up guiltily and then at each other, as if trying to decide the best path to take.

"Uh," replied Ryan, "we're just working on the roast we're giving Castle at his bachelor party. You know, some of Castle's finest moments here at the precinct."

"Yeah, his most macho moments," continued Espo, grinning evilly. "There are so many of them we're having trouble narrowing the list down. Let's see – we got the one about him being bitten by the fake vampire and screaming like a girl. Then the one where the dead guy fell out of the refrigerator and he screamed like a girl – those frozen people and he screamed like a girl…"

Ryan looked at his list. "The curse of the mummy – that was good for the chair collapsing under him, the dog ripping his pants, the coffee machine blowing up, and the elevator – at least he didn't scream like a girl that time. He did have to go to the bathroom rather quickly though."

"Then he cried when Montgomery let him have that 1879 bottle of Scotch," continued Espo. "And he drank all of that caffeine to get the witness sober when you were babysitting Erik Vaughn." Espo shook his head. "I've never seen anyone bounce off the walls like that."

"Then when he thought the ape was going to attack him in the Bigfoot case and hiding behind you at the Hamptons, hiding behind you at the docks, hiding behind you at the warehouse," contributed Ryan as he looked at his list again.

Beckett snorted at them in mock disgust. "I can't believe you guys are serious. Look at all the times he's been there for us. Remember when he jumped Nadir?"

"Just trying to impress you," Ryan pointed out. "And I recall that Nadir flattened him with one punch."

"He rescued me when my apartment blew up and shot Scott Dunn—"

"Spur of the moment reactions," shrugged Espo.

"Then there was the time with the counterfeiting ring when he shot Kitty Canary—"

"—before she was going to shoot you," inserted Ryan.

"Ah ha," said Beckett, pointing a finger at them to make a point. "When Hal Lockwood had you two, he jumped him and knocked him out—"

"—before he was going to shoot you," Ryan said.

"When the bank was robbed, he found a way to get messages out about the safety deposit box and the C4."

"Eh," shrugged Ryan and Espo, conceding that point.

"And then there was the time my car was in the river and Castle rescued me," said Beckett.

"Which you never really did explain," remarked Espo, pouting slightly.

Beckett looked at Espo. "And you know how far he went to get Alexis back when she was kidnapped, and he stayed with me when I was standing on a bomb."

Ryan and Espo looked at each other before looking at Beckett again.

"You know, the common denominator in most of that is you," said Espo.

"And it's not like we're not saying Castle isn't…manly," said Ryan doing air quotes. "But you've got to admit that he had has his…more enjoyable moments."

"Yeah," said Espo, "it's not like he's a cop. We're professionals; we've been trained what to do in those types of situations. Just saying, Castle wouldn't be so quick to act if he had time to think about it."

Thinning her lips, Beckett stared at them. "Castle will be pleased to know that you have such a high opinion of him."

She stood up and looked pointedly at them. "All I'm asking is that you not embarrass my fiancé too much. I would still like the wedding to happen. And you should probably leave out the parts about him shooting people – not everyone there will be a police officer. See you in about an hour and a half?"

"Sure," replied Ryan. "And let us know if you think of anything to add to the list."

"Yeah, right," commented Beckett. "You guys are on your own on that one."

As the boys went back to their lists, she looked over towards the elevator to check to see if the maintenance sign was still visible and then headed to the stairwell. Strange, she thought as she tried the door and found that it wouldn't open.

Beckett walked back to the bullpen, looking back stairwell as she did. "Hey, the stairwell is locked. Can one of you called down to maintenance and let them know..."

She froze when she saw a man holding a gun against Espo's head and another man ushering Gates out of her office. Ryan was sitting in his chair with his hands in the air.

"Detective, slowly draw out your weapon and carefully lay it on the table. I assure you that though these guns are made of plastic, they are still quite effective. You have something we want."

# # # # # # # #


	2. Chapter 2

**The Mettle of a Man **

Summary – How far would Castle go to protect his friends at the 12th and at what personal cost to himself and his relationship to the team? This takes place between "The Belly of the Beast" and "Veritas". Does not include any spoilers for "Veritas".

Author's notes – Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favs. They really do make my day.

Disclaimer – Don't own Castle; Marlowe, ABC, and Disney do. Just writing for fun and because I have these weird plot bunnies that pop into my head.

Rated strong T for language and innuendo.

**Chapter 2 – If You Say It Often Enough, Sometimes You'll Be Right **

"The serving bowls are in the cabinet over there," said Castle, pointing towards one of the kitchen cabinets.

Lanie nodded as she opened the cabinet. "One or two?"

"Two," replied Castle. "One for chips and one for popcorn. Or we could just mix them," he added as an afterthought.

"Two bowls it is," Lanie said as she got out the bowls. "How was the book tour?"

"9 cities in 5 days – or was it 10 cities?" said Castle as he picked a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon out of the wine cellar to decant and then paused. "And I think I mixed up Scranton, Ohio with Scranton, Pennsylvania when I was on their morning show."

"Ohio or Pennsylvania?" Lanie asked.

Castle shook his head. "I'm still not sure. It wasn't pretty though."

"Well, the team really missed you," Lanie said as she poured chips into one bowl and popcorn into another. "This case has them stymied."

"So how's that going?" Castle asked as he uncorked the wine. "Kate and I mainly played telephone tag this week."

Lanie thought a moment. "You would think it was a typical alley mugging, but the victim has no fingerprints and isn't in any database. And it was too dark for the witness and the policemen to see the suspect, so they are both 'John Does' at this point. I've got the autopsy on a flash drive to give to Perlmutter on the way home to see if he can find something that I've missed."

Castle frowned. "Isn't he on vacation, like for a month?"

"Supposed to be," shrugged Lanie. "The thing that makes this really strange is that the victim had a briefcase chained to his wrist and the suspect tried to cut the man's hand off to get it."

"Ah," said Castle, smiling knowingly, as he started pouring the wine into the decanter. "A covert CIA operation gone wrong. The victim was meeting another agent and going to pass along secret documents, perhaps nuclear launch codes, but a rival agent took him out first."

"Only if that document was a will – and it's a fake one done by a fake law firm," said Lanie.

"A will?" Castle asked quietly, staring at her.

"Yeah and, boy, is it a strange one. The man left his oldest son a tire store in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; his youngest son a bait shop in Hanford, Washington; and his daughter—"

"A bikini shop in Santa Fe," Castle stated as the wine reached the top of the decanter and then cascaded onto the counter. He dropped the bottle of wine, not caring where it went, and lunged for his phone lying on the counter.

"Lanie, what's your number?" he demanded as he thumbed it on.

"212-555-7843," she answered, frowning at him.

Castle quickly dialed the number and put the phone on speaker as it rang. "Answer it," he said.

Puzzled, Lanie quickly answered her phone. "Hello?" she asked, her eyes not leaving Castle's.

"The will is in play," Castle said tersely and then hung up.

"Castle, what the hell – what's this all about?" she demanded.

Castle ran a hand through his hair. "I was right – this was a CIA operation gone wrong," he said simply. "And if I'm right, Kate and the boys are in serious trouble."

"Castle, are you telling me you work for the CIA?" asked Lanie.

"No, no," he said, shaking his head. "But when I was researching Derek Storm and shadowing some CIA agents, we did a couple of drop scenarios. One of the scenarios was doing the same thing the Allies did in WWII to sneak false intel into the German military, specifically how to create cold fusion.

"They created 4 wills and a cipher that when put together contained a formula for cold fusion. They then planted the wills in occupied countries and sent a coded message about the wills that they knew Germany would decipher."

"But wouldn't that have given them the advantage?" asked Lanie.

"No, the formula didn't work but you wouldn't know it until you got to the final step. By then, it would have been too late because everyone in the area would have been exposed to high levels of radiation. So not only did you give them false intel, you also killed the scientists working on the project."

"Wow," said Lanie. "And you're sure this is one of those wills?"

"Yes," Castle said, nodding. "I've read all of them."

"Then we've got to call someone," Lanie said quickly.

"We just did," responded Castle.

"Really?" Lanie asked, looking at him in disbelief. "You called me."

"Yeah, and the CIA monitors my phone," Castle said simply. "It was part of the release I signed."

Lanie opened her mouth and then closed it as a knock resounded on the front door of the loft.

Castle quickly walked over and opened the door.

"You ordered pizza?" said the man in a baseball cap and jacket, carrying a pizza bag.

"Yes, I did," Castle said. "Please come in."

The man stepped inside and removed his baseball hat.

"Mr. Castle, I'm Agent Martinez," the man said. "You sent a message?"

"Yes – one of the Teller wills – it's at the 12th precinct," Castle replied. "It was found in a briefcase chained to a murder victim's wrist earlier this week."

"Are you sure?" Martinez asked.

Castle nodded and looked at Lanie. "Agent Martinez, this is Dr. Lanie Parrish, the medical examiner on the case. She said the will said that he left his oldest son a tire store in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; his youngest son a bait shop in Hanford, Washington; and his daughter a bikini shop in Santa Fe."

Martinez nodded. "Sounds like one of them. Where is it now?"

"I think the lab is still examining it to see if they can trace its origin," Lanie said.

"We need to get a team over there immediately to take the document into custody," Martinez said, pulling out his phone. "Is there anyone else who knows about this will?"

"The team working the case," said Castle.

Martinez nodded and paused. "We'll need to check on them also."

"I can do that now," said Castle, thumbing his phone back on. He speed-dialed Beckett's number and put the phone on speaker, and then waited.

# # # # # # # # # #

After Beckett laid her gun down on the desk, one of the intruders shoved her into her chair, keeping a gun trained on her at all times.

There were now three of them, the two she saw originally and another one who had been in the break room, refilling the snack machine.

Gates, Espo, and Ryan sat in chairs, their hands zip-tied behind their backs and duct tape placed over their mouths.

"Your cell phone," said the man holding a gun on her.

Beckett nodded and pulled the cell phone out of her pocket, putting it on the desk in front of her.

Another man, slightly older and wearing glasses, stood in front of the murder board, studying it. Finally he turned to Beckett. "There was a will in the briefcase found with the body. Where is it?"

"It's in the lab. They're still examining it," Beckett replied.

"Call them and have them bring it to you. Tell them that the elevator is out of order and you'll meet them at the stairwell door." The man frowned as Beckett hesitated. "Don't be a hero. We get what we want and we'll leave. No harm – no foul."

"All right," said Beckett, nodding. She quickly picked up the phone and dialed the lab.

"Lab – this is Trent," said the man who answered the phone.

"Hey, Trent – this is Detective Beckett," she said. "Listen, the Joe Doe who was brought in earlier this week – he had a briefcase on him that had a will in it. We'd like to see that now."

There was a momentary pause. "That's checked out to Brandy and she just went to dinner. Can I have her call you when she gets back?"

"Sure," said Beckett. "Do you know how long that is going to be?"

"About an hour, maybe 2. I think she said something about a shoe sale."

"Thanks," said Beckett. "Just let her know that I'm looking for it."

"Will do," said Trent as he hung up the phone.

Beckett sat back in her chair as she hung up the phone, assessing the situation, trying to decide if she could make a move. Espo caught her eyes and gave a subtle head shake to try to stop her.

"2 hours?" hissed one of the other men. "We didn't plan for that. In and out, that's what you said."

The first man looked back at him. "Patience – all things are rewarded in time." He nodded his head towards Beckett. "Make sure she's secured."

The man turned back to the murder board as one of the other men zip-tied Beckett's hands behind her back. "Poor Howard – he never knew what hit him. Such a shame to waste a good resource."

"Then why did you?" asked Beckett.

"There's the old saying – there's no honor among thieves. Well, there really isn't," the man responded. "He thought he could take everything and leave us with nothing."

"What was he going to take?" Beckett questioned.

The man studied her for a moment and then smiled slightly. "It's best that you not know that, detective."

They stared at each other for a few minutes until Beckett's phone rang, Castle's picture appearing on the screen.

"That's my fiancé," she said. "If I don't answer it, he'll think something's wrong."

The bespectacled man nodded curtly. "Don't say anything to alert him, otherwise…" he brushed the gun by her temple and then swiped his finger across the screen to answer the call.

"Hi, babe," Beckett said.

"Hey, kitten, just got back and wanted to check in," Castle said, shaking his head at the agent. Something was definitely wrong. If there wasn't, Beckett would have jumped down his throat for calling her 'kitten'. "I really missed you."

Beckett let out a breath. She didn't know how he knew, but Castle knew something was wrong. "I missed you too," she said.

"So what are you doing?" Castle asked. "Anything I can help with?"

"Just paperwork," replied Beckett. "And we know how you hate paperwork."

Castle laughed. "I've got plenty of my own after that trip," he said. "About dinner—"

"Yeah, about that – something's come up and we're going to have to work late," Beckett answered.

"Then I'll order something for later tonight – Italian, sushi?" Castle prompted.

"Cheeseburgers," Beckett responded after a moment.

"Oh, yeah, cheeseburgers," said Castle as he wrote 'danger' on a pad of paper. "You want fries with that? Smothered?"

"How about plain?" answered Beckett.

"Okay," said Castle as he wrote 'not wearing masks' on the paper. "2 or 3?" he asked.

Beckett paused for a moment. "3 – that way Alexis can have 1 when she gets home from class."

"Got it," said Castle as he wrote '3 people' on the paper. "And your usual strawberry shake?"

"Sounds perfect," said Beckett.

The man next to her made a slashing move across his throat.

"Hey, babe, I got to go. I miss you."

"I miss you too. See you soon," said Castle and then hung up the phone and turned to Martinez.

Looking grim, the agent quickly dialed a number. "Alpha Tango six niner heavy – Fat Man and Little Boy are in play," he said at the click. "We've got a hostage situation at the 12th precinct." He pulled the phone away from his ear. "Mr. Castle, are you okay with the command center being here?"

"Sure – whatever I can do to help," said Castle.

# # # # # # # #

Lanie and Castle stood in the kitchen, trying to stay out of the way and watching in nervous fascination as FBI and CIA agents quickly sat up a mobile command center.

"Uh, Castle," Lanie finally said quietly. "Does Kate know that the CIA monitors your phone calls?"

"Not even my own mother knows that," Castle responded.

"And you call each other every night when you're out of town?" she asked. "Even when you're in town but busy?"

"Well, yeah," said Castle.

"Do you ever 'talk'?" Lanie asked.

"Well, yeah," Castle said again.

"Adult talk?" Lanie asked pointedly.

Castle thought for a moment. "Oh, that – I always use a burner phone." He chortled slightly. "That would be awkward."

"And what phone does Kate call?" Lanie commented.

Castle opened his mouth and then thought for another moment and closed his mouth. "Point taken. I'll get her a burner phone tomorrow."

Martinez walked over to them. "We've got everything set up. We're putting SWAT into place so that we can get eyes inside the bullpen."

"What about Looking Glass?" asked Castle.

Martinez raised an eyebrow at the question. "Well, to do that, we'll need to get permission from the proper city authorities and we've only got 1-1/2 hours."

There was another knock on Castle's door.

"Then it's a good thing they are coming to a poker game tonight," said Castle.

"Hey, Ricky," said the mayor, walking into the loft. "What's going on?"

"Is your mother putting on a production of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold?" asked the police commissioner as he looked at the equipment.

# # # # # # # #


	3. Chapter 3 The Set Up

**The Mettle of a Man **

Summary – How far would Castle go to protect his friends at the 12th and at what personal cost to himself and his relationship to the team? This takes place between "The Belly of the Beast" and "Veritas". Does not include any spoilers for "Veritas".

Author's notes – Sorry, keep getting errors when trying to post so I'm trying a workaround. Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favs. And yes, apparently if you have the "right" software unknowingly installed on your computer and have a webcam (like most laptops now have), someone can watch and listen to you from your computer – really disturbing and the webcam on my laptop now has a sticky note over it. And I'm making up stuff about how the 12th murder division floor is laid out. We know that you can't see the interrogation room from the bullpen (and vice versa), and I'm assuming there is the elevator in the middle and 2 stairwells, one on each end of the building.

Disclaimer – Don't own Castle; Marlowe, ABC, and Disney do. Just writing for fun and because I have these weird plot bunnies that pop into my head.

**Chapter 3 – The Set Up**

The mayor and commissioner quickly gave their approval for Looking Glass to be used to scope out the situation in the 12th bullpen.

While Martinez was bringing up the spy software on one of the laptops, Castle was sketching a layout of the bullpen on a large sheet of paper fastened next to a large screen set up against the wall so that they would know what they were working with.

The large screen flared to life, showing 4 different views of the homicide bullpen.

"The top left is the view from Detective Beckett's PC," Martinez said. They could see Beckett sitting stiffly in her chair, her hands behind her back, a man standing to her left, holding a gun on her.

"How the hell did they get guns past the metal detectors?" said a man by the front door.

At the sound of the voice, Castle glanced up from where he was working. Smiling slightly, he quickly walked over to greet the man.

"Coope, you're looking good as usual," he said as they shook hands and thumped each other on the back.

"You too," the man said.

Castle then nodded at the other man who had come in with Coope. "Sorenson."

"Castle," Sorenson nodded back.

Castle turned back to Coope. "Have you two met?"

"Unofficially in the elevator," said Cooper. "Cooper Peterson, CIA regional director," he said in a way of greeting and held out his hand to Sorenson.

"Will Sorenson, FBI," replied Sorenson as they shook hands. "I've been called in to head the FBI part of the task force."

"I look forward to working with you," said Peterson. He looked back at the screen. "What are the other views?"

"And the top right is the view from Detective Ryan's PC," Martinez continued. That view showed almost the same view as from Beckett's desk.

"The bottom left is the view from Detective Esposito's desk."

Everyone in the room paused as that view showed Esposito, Ryan, and Gates sitting in chairs, their mouths duct-taped, arms behind their backs, and two men standing behind them, guns pointed at them.

"And the bottom right view is from Captain Gate's desk," Martinez finished. The bullpen was eerily quiet.

Frowning, Peterson studied the screen. "No masks – that's not a good sign. So what are we looking at, Rick?"

"The team got a body drop on Tuesday – a 'John Doe' was murdered and had a briefcase containing the 4th Teller will. Those men must be looking for it." Castle studied the screen intently, his eyes narrowing. "I've seen the man standing behind Kate before."

"Have they made any demands?" asked Sorenson.

"No," Castle said, shaking his head. "They don't know that we know they're there. But Kate – Detective Beckett – knows that we know."

Peterson looked at Castle. "So how did you find out?"

"Lanie – Dr. Parish – told me about the will," Castle said, nodding at the medical examiner. "Then when I called Kate to check on her, I called her kitten and she didn't hang up on me. And then she asked for cheeseburgers for dinner, which means danger – you know, my mom is hosting a party here, Captain Gates is looking for you, a killer is holding you hostage…"

Lanie walked up to the men as Castle finished.

"Dr. Parish, this is Cooper Peterson. He was in the group I shadowed at the CIA," Castle said as a way of introduction. "You already know Sorenson."

Lanie shook hands with Peterson and nodded at Sorenson. "Will, it's been a while."

"Run facial recognition," Peterson said to Martinez. He turned back to Lanie. "Dr. Parish, have you been able to identify the victim?"

Lanie shook her head. "No, but I have the autopsy report with me. I was taking it to the other medical examiner for him to review."

Peterson nodded. "Good – show me."

Lanie pulled the flash drive out of her purse and gave it to another agent, who pulled up the file. "The victim has no fingerprints and isn't in any of the databases we can access."

Peterson frowned when he saw the man's picture. "Yes, he's definitely one of ours. 'Mr. Black' went off grid about 2 weeks ago and we haven't been able to trace him since then."

He looked back at the screen. "If they already had the will, they would have left by now. Dr. Parish, do you know where the will is?"

Lanie nodded. "It was in the lab the last I heard."

"Can you find out exactly where it is now?" said Peterson.

"Okay," said Lanie as she pulled out her phone and put it on speaker.

"Lab – this is Trent."

"Hi, Trent, this is Dr. Parish. You know that will that was brought in Tuesday on the 'John Doe' case?"

"Yeah, it's here. Brandy has it checked out."

"I need to see it," Lanie said. "Is it okay if I send someone to pick it up?"

"Well, you'll have to wait in line. Detective Beckett asked for it just a little while ago," Trent replied.

"Has she picked it up yet?" Lanie asked.

"No, Brandy is at dinner. I told her that I would have Brandy call her when she gets back."

"Do you know how soon Brandy is going to be back?"

"I think she went shoe shopping, so probably another 45 minutes," Trent said.

"Okay, thanks," said Lanie. "Would you have her call me before she calls Detective Beckett?"

"Sure," said Trent.

Lanie hung up the phone and turned to the men. "So they don't have the will yet. That's good, right?"

Peterson shook his head. "Not necessarily, but it does buy us some time."

Martinez looked up from his computer. "I've got a match on the men. The man standing behind Detective Beckett is Miles Weaver – he was a systems analyst in our Far East region before he retired 4 years ago. The man standing to the left of Detective Esposito is Ronald Giamundo, a small-time muscle man with a string of misdemeanors but no convictions. The man standing to the right of Captain Gates is Kangwon Yong , suspected for being a North Korean agent."

Castle snapped his fingers. "I know I knew Weaver from someplace. Specs – he was the one of the systems analysts on the drop scenarios that we ran."

"Agent Sorenson," said one of the FBI agents, "they found the truck for the elevator maintenance service in the alley behind the precinct – both of the repairmen are dead. There's also a service truck for vending machines and that man is dead. And it looks like the elevator is stopped manually on the 4th floor."

"That's not good," commented Peterson. He walked over to the layout Castle had drawn and studied it. "So what are our options, people? The clock is ticking."

"We could always call and negotiate," one agent said, "but then they would have the advantage of having hostages."

Peterson shook his head. "We don't negotiate."

"The stairwell doors are locked from the inside except for the first floor," another agent said. "We could have SWAT take out the door closest to the hostages and breech the area."

Castle's head snapped up. "They wouldn't be able to get to them soon enough. Someone could get killed."

"We could wait until they leave and then take them," Sorenson suggested. "But they aren't wearing masks, so either they don't care that they've been seen or they aren't planning on leaving any witnesses behind."

"How about gas in the ventilation system?" said another agent. "We could knock them out and then have SWAT breech the area."

The police commissioner shook his head. "There's a common ventilation system, so that wouldn't work without affecting the entire building."

"So that's not an option either," said Peterson. "Are all of them working the case?"

"Kate, Javi, and Kevin are," answered Lanie. "I'm not sure why Captain Gates is there."

"I can help with that one," said the commissioner. "She has a background in Internal Affairs, so I've asked her to look into why some high-profile cases are falling apart before they go to trial."

"So you think someone internal is fixing things?" asked Castle.

"That's a good possibility," the commissioner responded.

Castle stared at the layout before looking at Peterson. "Could we run a drop scenario? Get someone on the inside to diffuse the situation?"

"What are you thinking, Rick?" asked Peterson.

"Specs knows how these wills work. You put the set together and use a cypher to decrypt them to get the formula. When we ran the drop scenarios, we would call a number each time we found a will and give the person the date of the will and the city," Castle said. "That way, that person knew which cypher would decrypt the wills and then would bring it to a rendezvous location."

"So we get someone on the inside, the person has the cypher?" Sorenson asked. "How's that going to help? Won't that just give them another hostage?"

Castle shook his head. "Not if we do it right. We need a way to separate Beckett and the others from the men; otherwise, anything we do could result in one or more of them being hurt or killed," he explained. "And we can't gas the entire building, but what if we turned off the ventilation and then used something to knock the men out? Then SWAT could come in from both stairwells and take control of the situation."

Peterson nodded, rubbing his chin. "That has possibilities. We'd have to use someone who Weaver knows though to make it plausible though – someone who has knowledge about the wills and a reason why they would want to decipher them. And we'd need to get the cypher. What were the specifics of the will?"

**"Teller left his oldest son a tire store in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; his youngest son a bait shop in Hanford, Washington; and his daughter a bikini shop in Santa Fe**," Castle responded.

"New Mexico or Texas?" Peterson asked.

"Uh, New Mexico," said Lanie after a moment.

Peterson nodded again and brought up a browser on his phone. After a few moments, he said, "That would be the Teller wills Argonne version."

Castle and Lanie looked at each other.

"Do you think this will work?" she whispered.

Castle shook his head. "I don't know, but we have to do something."

Peterson looked at Castle. "Sorry, it's not going to work. The asset who created the cypher is currently on assignment and incommunicado."

Castle ran a hand through his hair. "What if we used another one?"

"No," said Peterson, shaking his head. "Dr. Jenkins had a unique way of creating cyphers; none of our standard ones will work and we don't have time to figure out the cypher she used."

"Dr. Jenkins?" Castle asked. "Libby Jenkins?"

"And why does it not surprise me that you know her?" said Peterson.

"She tutored Alexis in math for a couple of weeks," Castle responded. "And we dated for a while."

Peterson frowned at Castle. "Rick, what part of non-fraternization do you not understand? And really, Libby?"

"It happened several months after I had finished shadowing the CIA. And we were both consenting adults," said Castle. "But the point is that she showed me how she did these cyphers. I've got the notes here."

Castle rushed into his study and pulled out a box from the bottom of one of the shelves. He rummaged through it for a minute and then pulled out a spiral notebook.

"Here," he said, opening the notebook to a page to show Peterson. "Here's part of the will and here's her cypher. These cyphers look hard to decrypt but were made to be broken fairly easily because that was the whole point of the exercise – getting false intel into the hands of your enemy as a weapon of destruction."

Peterson frowned at Castle again. "And what part of not taking anything did you not understand?"

"I had permission," Castle replied.

"And who gave you that permission?"

"Sophia Turner," Castle said and then paused. "Which in retrospect was probably not the best idea." He looked at Peterson questioningly. "But these aren't real, right?"

Peterson shook his head in return and smiled. "No, of course not." He took the book and handed it to Martinez. "See what you can come up with. Now how is the rest of this plan of yours going to work?" he asked Castle.

# # # # # # # # # #

Beckett jumped slightly when her desk phone rang. The lab extension displayed on the LCD.

Weaver motioned with his gun and then picked up the receiver and held it to her ear.

"Detective Beckett," she said.

"Detective Beckett, this is Brandy in the lab. Trent said you needed the will from the John Doe case?"

"Yes," Beckett replied. "We'd like to get the names off of it so we can start tracking any relatives down. They might be able to identify the victim."

"Sure."

"Uh, Brandy, I'm right in the middle of something. Do you have time to bring it up?"

"No problem."

"Thanks. And the elevator is out so I'll meet you at the north stairwell."

"Okay. I'll be up in a few."

Weaver hung up the phone and motioned for Beckett to turn around. He quickly cut the zip ties holding her hands. "Don't think about trying anything, detective. Otherwise, your team dies."

Beckett nodded as she brought her arms forward to rub her wrists. "Understood."

He grabbed her arm and walked her to the door. They waited for the knock and then Weaver nodded to Beckett to open the door as he stepped out of view.

"Here you go, Detective Beckett," said the buxomly blonde, handing Beckett a plastic bag with the will inside. "Just be sure to wear gloves and return it when you're finished."

Beckett nodded. "Thanks. I will."

She shut the door and then frowned as there was a knock.

"Detective Beckett, it's me, Brandy. I forgot something," came the voice from the other side.

Weaver motioned Beckett forward again and she cracked the door open.

Brandy smiled at her, holding out a folded note. "Would you give this to Rick? I really appreciate all of his help on the book I'm writing. Especially that scene I just couldn't work out. He really has a way with words. Thanks."

Puzzled, Beckett frowned slightly and took the note. "Yeah, next time I see him, I'll give this to him."

"Thanks, Detective," Brandy said.

Beckett and Weaver had walked a few steps back towards the bullpen when a knock sounded on the door again.

"Now what?" muttered Weaver as he motioned for Beckett to open the door.

"What is it, Brandy?" Beckett said as she opened the door and then froze.

"Hey, kitten," said Castle, holding several bags from Remy's. "Since you couldn't come to dinner, I thought I'd bring dinner to you. What's wrong with the elevator?"

# # # # # # # #


	4. Chapter 4 The Take Down

**The Mettle of a Man **

Summary – How far would Castle go to protect his friends at the 12th and at what personal cost to himself and his relationship to the team? This takes place between "The Belly of the Beast" and "Veritas". Does not include any spoilers for "Veritas".

Author's notes – Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favs. Yeah, I thought about using Jordan Shaw as the FBI agent, but it wouldn't have worked – you'll see why. BTW, I'm never too sure about how long to make chapters, but I do like to close on a cliff-hanger.

Disclaimer – Don't own Castle; Marlowe, ABC, and Disney do. Just writing for fun and because I have these weird plot bunnies that pop into my head.

Rated strong T for language and innuendo.

**Chapter 4 – The Take Down**

Beckett felt like screaming at the unfairness of it all when she saw Castle in the doorway. Surely he had understood her – that something bad was happening at the 12th and he needed to call for help.

"What, no 'I missed you' kiss?" he asked, wagging an eyebrow at her.

Weaver stepped out from behind the door and pointed the gun at Castle, motioning him inside.

After Castle stepped inside and the door closed, he stared at the man for a minute. "Specs Weaver," he said finally, raising his hands slightly. "What's it been – 10 – 12 years? I heard you retired a couple of years ago."

Weaver opened his mouth in surprise and then closed it. "Stumpy, I would say it's good to see you again, but under the circumstances…" he said, motioning Castle and Beckett back into the bullpen with his gun.

"Like I said earlier, no funny stuff, Detective," said Weaver as he took the plastic bag and note from Beckett and pointed to the chair she had been sitting in.

Kangwon quickly zip-tied her hands behind her back and placed duct tape over her mouth.

"Sacks on the desk, Castle," said Weaver. "Giamundo, see if he's carrying and check the sacks."

Giamundo moved to where Castle stood and quickly patted him down, pulling a cell phone and wallet out of his pocket and putting them on a desk.

"Hey, watch the hands," said Castle. "Do that again and you're buying me dinner."

Giamundo leered at him and pushed him into an empty chair. "Nah – all he's got is a cell phone."

He opened the sacks and peered at the contents. "Just cheeseburgers, fries, and drinks."

Castle examined the murder board curiously. "Jim Collier – I take it he got on your bad side," he said looking at Weaver.

Weaver frowned at him. "He got a little greedy." He studied Castle. "Your fiancé?" he asked motioning the gun toward Beckett. "So you finally decided to settle down?"

Castle shrugged but didn't answer and looked curiously at the plastic bag Weaver held. "So which will is that? Groves, Frisch, or Teller? Do you have the other ones? I ran into the ME on the case and she was more than happy to fill me in on the details."

"You have a good memory," Weaver said.

"And I read really fast too," Castle quipped.

In the meantime, Giamundo opened the note that Brandy had given Beckett and chortled slyly. "Looks like your fiancé has somethin' going on on the side," he said to Beckett and then read the note out loud. "'Ricky, thanks for your help with that sex scene. Your advice was perfect. Call me. B.'"

Beckett stared at Castle in disbelief. She knew he was helping Brandy with a book she was writing, but this…?

"What can I say – women can't keep their hands off of me," Castle said innocently.

"As much as I'd like to discuss your love life, we're on a deadline," Weaver said.

Castle looked at him expectantly. "Have you made the call yet? You know, to get the cypher?"

Weaver sighed in exasperation. "And why is that any of your business?"

"You might be surprised," Castle answered matter-of-factly.

"We don't have time for this," said Kangwon. "The plane leaves in 3 hours."

Weaver shook his head. "Yeah, we do. We need to set up a meeting and the sooner we do so, the better."

He pulled the will out of the bag and opened it, and then pulled out his phone and quickly dialed the number of the law firm listed.

Weaver started slightly as Castle's phone on the desk started to ring. He then picked up the phone and saw the number he was calling from on screen and stared at Castle.

"You mind if I answer that?" Castle asked. "Could be important."

"_**You**_ have the cypher?" Weaver asked in disbelief. "You?"

"What am I? All good looks and no brains?" Castle answered back.

"How did you get it?" Weaver asked suspiciously.

"Libby – Dr. Jenkins – gave it to me," Castle replied.

"You got the ice queen to give up the cypher?" Weaver asked again in disbelief.

Castle shrugged again. "Like I said, women find me irresistible."

"Dr. Jenkins?" Weaver shook his head in disgust. "Have you no shame?"

"Apparently not," Castle replied. He pointed towards his wallet on the table. "The cypher is on the back of my business card on the left side."

Kangwon opened the wallet and pulled out the business card. He then took the will from Weaver and sat down at a desk. After a few moments, he nodded. "Yes, this is the right cypher."

Giamundo snorted. "If we got the code, why don't we just knock him off right now?"

Kangwon held up his hand. "But it's not complete…"

Weaver looked at Castle. "What are you playing at, Castle?"

"Not playing," said Castle. "I've had a venture go bad and I find myself in need of some quick funds and a trip out of the country. You can have the first half of the cypher for free, but the second part will cost you a small portion of the proceeds, say $2 million?" He paused and looked at Weaver. "You are getting at least $20 million for this, right?"

Giamundo looked at Weaver and hissed, "$20 million – you said we'd be splitting $10 million once the job was done."

Castle shrugged again. "Oops."

Kangwon looked at his two partners. "I assure you that $10 million is a fair price. You can't guarantee that this will actually work."

"If they can, does that mean the selling price goes up?" Castle asked.

The North Korean agent looked at him. "Shut up." He turned back to Weaver. "We had a deal for $10 million and safe passage out of the United States."

"Don't worry," said Weaver. "We'll keep our end of the deal. And yes, Castle, I will give you the $2 million out of my share for the cypher," he said looking at Giamundo in an effort to stave off an angry outburst.

"And that's why I always beat you at poker," Castle quipped, smiling. "I'll text you the last part of the cypher once the money has been deposited into the account on the front of the business card and I'm out of the country."

Weaver narrowed his eyes at Castle. "So how do I know that this isn't a trap? That you don't have the Feds waiting downstairs."

"Believe me, Specs," said Castle, "I'm the last person who wants to call the Feds, besides you three," he pointed out.

Castle paused and shifted in the chair before explaining, "Let's just say I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar and it's time to move on. In fact, a little birdie told me that the Feds put out a BOLO for me an hour ago and frozen the accounts they can find. Captain Gates can fill you on the details, but you seemed to have taped her mouth shut. Which is a very good idea, I might say."

Weaver thought a moment more and then moved over to Gates and pulled the duct tape off of her mouth. "Is what he's saying true?"

Gates worked her mouth for a moment before glaring at Castle. "In the last couple of years, several high profile cases have fallen apart before going to trial and IA believes they are being fixed by someone internally."

Kangwon nodded as he brought up something on the computer. "What he says is true – there is a warrant out for him – arrest on sight, suspicion of contaminating crime scenes on certain cases. It says he withdrew $500,000 out of an account two days ago, so he's considered a flight risk."

"Castle – you, the all American boy?" asked Weaver.

"What can I say? Hell of a lot easier than writing books and royalties aren't what they once were. Now, do we have a deal?"

Weaver put the duct tape back over Gates' mouth and then nodded. "Yes, we have a deal."

"Good, and now that that is settled," said Castle, "we probably need to take this party elsewhere fairly quickly. I'm assuming that you have your escape plan – tickets and passports? I've already got mine."

Weaver looked over at the North Korean agent. "Are we set to go?"

Kangwon nodded. "Let me verify that the passports will be ready." He pulled out his phone.

Weaver turned back to Castle. "So how did you do it, Stumpy? Fix those cases?"

Castle hummed for a moment and then smiled, "Brandy was very helpful."

"So are you a serial womanizer?" Weaver asked.

"Must come by it genetically," said Castle.

They both turned toward Kangwon who was arguing loudly in Korean on the phone.

Castle stood and motioned for the phone. "May I?"

Kangwon frowned at him but gave him the phone.

"Annyeong-hasimnikka," Castle said.

The voice on the other end paused for a moment and then said, "Castle, is that you? Are you doing research on these men? They are very bad and you shouldn't be doing that."

"I'm touched by your concern for my safety, Sly, but don't worry. I'm ditching them fairly quickly."

"So how did those passports work for you?"

"I'm about to find out." Castle looked at the men. "These 3 gentlemen need to leave immediately – what do you have in the bargain basement? We need a Caucasian male about 60, one Italian about 45, and one Asian about 40. I'll send you their pictures in just a minute."

The phone was silent for a moment. "Yeah, yeah, I've got some that would work, but it's going to cost a premium."

Castle looked over at Weaver who nodded. "Sounds good. Same pick up point, say in an hour?"

"You got a deal. Hey, sorry things didn't work out with your fiancé – you really know how to pick them though – she is smoking. Think you might send me her number so I can introduce myself? And send me a selfie of you and that blonde chick, especially if you go to the Riviera," Sly said.

"Sly, you're a beast," said Castle.

"Yeah, but I'm a beast who can deliver the goods. See you in an hour."

Castle hung up the phone and handed it back to Kangwon. "I guess we're good."

"Then it's time to clean up here," said Giamundo, grabbing Ryan by the hair and flipping open his knife.

"Whoa," said Castle, holding out his hands. "That is so not cool. You kill an agent who's gone off the reservation and they send you a fruit basket and a 'thank you' card. But you kill 4 New York police officers and they will hunt you down – it won't matter where you go."

"So you got any suggestions, pretty boy?" Giamundo asked.

"Yeah, lock them in the interrogation room," said Castle. "The cleaning people have already been here so no one is going to find them until Monday morning."

"You'd turn your back on your friends that quickly for money?" asked Weaver.

"What can I say? I've gotten use to the life of luxury and I'm not giving that up. And friends? With them – really?" laughed Castle. "A control freak who makes Libby look like a Disney princess, a macho spic, and a…a…short Irishman? Anyway, the interrogation room is down this way. It's soundproof so no one will be able to hear them."

"Well, we don't all have your luck and charm, Stumpy" said Weaver. "Kangwon, check us in for the flight."

He grabbed Beckett by the arm and forced her to stand up, pushing the gun into her ribs. "The rest of you, stand up and don't try anything; otherwise, she dies. Castle, lead the way."

Castle nodded and led them down the hall to the interrogation room.

"Sit down," said Weaver, holding Beckett tighter.

Giamundo quickly duct-taped the team's legs to the chairs they were sitting in.

"Castle," Weaver said as he pushed Beckett into a chair, "you want to have the pleasure?"

Castle smiled and knelt down in front of Beckett, running a hand down her leg and then duct-taping them to the chair. He stood and bent over her.

"I won't say that it hasn't been fun, kitten, but the thrill is gone. I guess I just have too much of my mother in me." He leaned in and kissed her roughly. "SWAT's outside," he whispered in her ear before Beckett head-butted him.

Weaver laughed as Castle wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Sure you don't want to take her with you – she's got spunk."

"Brandy might think it's a little crowded," said Castle as he paused his hand over the light switch in the room and looked back at the team. "And in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!"

He flipped off the lights and walked out of the room, shutting and locking the door.

# # # # # # # # #

"We need to send Sly the pictures for the passports," Weaver said as Castle walked back into the bullpen.

"Do you mind if I eat? I missed dinner," Castle said as he opened one of the bags and took out a hamburger. He then opened the other bag and pulled out a drink, taking the lid off and stirring it and then placing it on the desk.

Moving away from the desk, he took a bite of the cheeseburger and chewed slowly, watching as Weaver took a picture of Giamundo.

Then Weaver handed Giamundo the phone and stood against the wall.

The heavy-set man fumbled with the phone for a minute, wiping his sweating brow, before Castle stood and took it out of his hands.

"Here, let me," he said as Giamundo sat down beside the open drink.

Castle peered through the display at Weaver, pressed the button, and then looked at the results. "How about one without glasses?" he asked.

Weaver took off his glasses and Castle was about to take another picture when Giamundo fell over with a thud and jerked uncontrollably twice before going limp.

"What the hell?" said Kangwon, jumping away from him and colliding with a chair.

Weaver felt the room spin around him and looked back at Castle. "What have you done?" he asked as he too slumped to the floor, spasms racking his body as he blacked out.

Flipping open the knife he carried, the North Korean whirled and lunged at Castle.

The writer tried to move away, but his reaction was slowed by the drug in the air and the knife caught him in the forearm as Kangwon also fell to the ground.

Castle slid down the desk as his vision narrowed. "They're down," he said simply and then waited. He frowned as several tall, white rabbits quietly came into the room before darkness overtook him.

# # # # # # # # #

Beckett could hear the others move in the chairs, trying to get free, and the negative grunts as they couldn't.

They had been sitting in total darkness for at least 30 minutes, so the light coming back on in the interrogation room momentarily blinded the team as several SWAT members rushed into the room. One man walked over to Beckett as two others stationed themselves by the door, the guns at the ready.

"We've got the hostages," said the man into his throat mike as he knelt in front of Beckett. "I'm Officer Ramirez. Is anyone hurt?" he asked as he removed the duct tape from Beckett's mouth.

"We're okay," she said.

He quickly cut the zip ties from her wrists and undid the duct tape around her legs and then moved on to free the others.

As soon as she was free, Beckett jumped out of the chair and rushed out the door, only to be grabbed by Sorenson and stopped.

"Kate, you can't go in there yet. We've got to secure it first," he said.

"Castle and the other men are headed to the airport," said Gates as she stood up. "Alert security to stop them."

Sorenson shook his head. "No, they aren't. This was a trap to catch them."

Ramirez's throat mike crackled. "Area secured. Sir, exactly who are we looking for? There's no one here."

Sorenson looked at Ramirez and shook his head again. "No, they should be there – Peterson should be in there with the suspects."

Sorenson rushed towards the bullpen only to stop short as he entered it.

No one else was there except for the SWAT team. The murder board had been wiped clean and now contained a note that read, "Sorenson – great interagency cooperation. We'll take it from here."

"No, no, no!" exclaimed Sorenson as he surveyed the empty room. "Damn it to hell. They said no one could enter the area for 30 minutes."

"Well, they lied," said Beckett.

"Get CSI up here and see if they can get any fingerprints," said Gates. "And Sorenson, you've got 5 minutes to explain what just happened."

The elevator dinged and the mayor, police commissioner, and Lanie rushed out.

The ME rushed to Espo and hugged him tightly. "Javi, I was so scared," she whispered into his ear.

As the three men started explaining what had just occurred to Gates and the team, Beckett noticed a white piece of paper in the trunk of the small elephant on her desk, rather than the usual dollar bill.

She discretely pulled it out and unrolled it. It simply said, "Meet me on the north side of the building. LJ."

Beckett pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Espo," she whispered, not wanting to interrupt the men. "I'm going to go down the hallway for a minute."

Espo nodded at her. "I've got your back," he whispered back.

Beckett quietly walked out of the room and then broke into a fast run as she reached the north stairwell.

She reached the first floor in a matter of moments and rushed out a side door and looked around.

A black van was waiting across the street. As she approached it, an average looking man in a suit got out on the driver's side.

"Detective Beckett," he said as he nodded at her and opened the side door.

Beckett started to step inside and paused for a moment.

"Detective Beckett," said a woman in a motorized wheelchair. "I'm Dr. Jenkins. If you'll step inside, I'll be glad to take you to Castle."

# # # # # # # # # #


	5. Chapter 5 Aftermath

**The Mettle of a Man **

Summary – How far would Castle go to protect his friends at the 12th and at what personal cost to himself and his relationship to the team? This takes place between "The Belly of the Beast" and "Veritas". Does not include any spoilers for "Veritas".

Author's notes – Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favs. And yes, there's more talking and feeling in this story than action because that's what this story is all about. And a little angst.

Disclaimer – Don't own Castle; Marlowe, ABC, and Disney do. Just writing for fun and because I have these weird plot bunnies that pop into my head.

Rated strong T for language and innuendo.

**Chapter 5 – Aftermath**

Castle groaned miserably as he felt his stomach roil again. At least he wasn't throwing up any more, but it had been touch and go there for a while when he woke up god knew where to see medical staff hovering over him.

He was sure they had taken at least a pint of blood by now with all the tests they were running on him.

Peterson had walked in a little while later and had the decency to look slightly apologetic. "Good news. Your stats are good, so you shouldn't have any permanent side effects."

"I thought you said you improved good night," Castle whispered hoarsely.

"Oh, we did, but not for the person on the receiving end," Peterson answered matter-of-factly. "We made it work faster, last longer once it hits your system, and become inert faster in the air. And added a hallucinogen. How was that?"

"Yeah, the 6-foot rabbits were a nice touch. You could have at least warned me," Castle replied.

"We're not inviting people to tea, Rick. We're subduing threats." Peterson looked at him. "Besides, would it have made a difference?"

"No," Castle said, trying not to shake his head. He felt like he had guzzled a cheap bottle of champagne too fast. In addition to his stomach trying to rebel at every movement, his mouth was dry and fuzzy, his head pounded, and his eyes felt like they were made of sandpaper.

Peterson paused for a moment. "I hate to bring this up while you're indisposed, but you've obviously bought some of Sly's 'documents' recently…"

"Yes, I did," said Castle. He brought his uninjured arm up to cover his eyes against the bright lights. He had no problem lying to Peterson since the man hadn't been entirely truthful with him. "What happened with Alexis and Paris really rocked me, Coope, and I keep thinking what if these people come after me again or the people that I care about. I just want to make sure they're safe." And it really wasn't a lie; he did want to make sure the team was safe, but not because of the reason he had just said.

Peterson nodded. "Yeah, I can't apologize enough about that, Rick. We really dropped the ball. I can't promise that it won't happen again, but we'll do our best to make sure that it doesn't."

"Thanks," said Castle. "I appreciate that."

"Well, I've got to check on the others while Dr. Jenkins patches you up. Thanks for your help. Our government is grateful for your service."

"Not a problem," Castle responded.

Peterson paused by the door. "And Rick, is there anything else we need to know about from your time with us? Any other souvenirs that you might have?"

"No," said Castle. "But I'm pretty sure you've been through the loft and the house in the Hamptons with a fine tooth comb by now."

Peterson shrugged. "We like to keep things where they should be – makes things easier."

"And Coope, if you found anything strange in my mother's room, I don't want to know about it – or Alexis's either for that matter," Castle said.

"Okay," said Coope with a laugh. "See you at the annual golf tournament?"

"Wouldn't miss it," replied Castle.

Dr. Steve Jenkins hummed as he examined the cut on Castle's arm. "Rick, I think this shirt is a goner. Do you want some scrubs to change into before I stitch up the cut?"

"Just cut the sleeve off, Steve," Castle said wearily. "I don't think I can sit up right now."

"Okay."

Castle cringed slightly as he heard the fabric ripping. This had been one of his favorite shirts but it could always be replaced, unlike his friends.

"And this is going to sting for a moment," said Jenkins.

Castle swore and almost jumped off the table as Jenkins quickly injected his arm several times with a numbing agent. "You're enjoying this," he pouted.

"What? This? No – it's against the Hippocratic oath. But beating you at golf, yes. I could always put you out if that would help," suggested Jenkins.

"No. After you patch me up, I need to check on my fiancé," Castle replied.

"Yeah, Libby told me that she had read the announcement in the paper. Katherine Beckett must be one special lady for you to get married after you swore you'd never do it again."

"She is," Castle said. His stomach roiled again, not because of the drug, but because he thought Kate may have doubts about them – about him – now because of what just happened.

"Can you feel this?" Jenkins asked as he poked Castle's arm.

"No, it's numb."

"Scar or no scar?" Jenkins asked.

"Uh, do I have a choice?" Castle thought for a moment. "No scar."

"This is going to take a little longer then," said Jenkins as he started to stitch the cut closed. "And it would help if you relaxed a little."

"Tell that to the rabbits pounding in my head," Castle retorted.

# # # # # # # # #

Beckett quickly sat down on the bench opposite Dr. Jenkins and buckled the seatbelt as the van door closed.

Dr. Jenkins smiled at her warmly. "It's nice to finally meet the woman who has Rick considering marriage again. I saw the wedding announcement in the paper a couple of months ago, Detective Beckett. Congratulations."

"Thanks, and it's Kate," said Beckett, frowning slightly as the van lurched into movement. "So, Dr. Jenkins—"

"Libby."

"Libby," Beckett said nodding at her, "how long have you known Castle – Rick?" she asked as she shook her head.

"We met shortly after he starting 'researching' the CIA for his books," replied Libby. "I'm the test that they throw at men to see if they have the right stuff when it comes to being an asset. Some do and some don't," she said with a shrug.

She smiled softly at Beckett's curious look. "Go-carting accident when I was 25. I was on the fast track to become the youngest neurosurgeon in the country, but that was before my boyfriend and I went for a spin on a Sunday afternoon. He escaped with just a broken arm, but my T1 and T2 vertebrae were crushed. So now I spend my days in this chair researching better ways to disable a threat … and other things for the CIA."

Libby smiled again. "I can see you're curious, Kate, so feel free to ask me anything, except for classified CIA stuff of course because then I'd have to kill you and that would be rather awkward."

Beckett frowned again as she pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "So when did you two hook up?"

"Oh, that happened several months after he left the agency, not that he was ever an agent." Libby paused, thinking. "When I first met Rick, I thought he had read one too many Bond books and was trying to emulate his hero – we get a few of them like that in the agency and they usually don't last too long. He was this macho metro womanizing shallow 9-year-old on a sugar rush who can't keep his hands to himself jack-ass."

Kate laughed slightly. "That was my first reaction when I met him too." She paused. "So what changed?"

Libby smiled fondly. "A couple of months after he started his research, I came into the break room one day and found him sitting there with a book in front of him, looking like he had lost his best friend. I asked him what was wrong and he said that he couldn't do it anymore – he had always been the one to help Alexis with her homework, but they had promoted her to an advanced math class and he couldn't help her anymore and didn't know what to do. He looked so lost that I volunteered to tutor her – a little anxiously I might add because I thought this was just some ploy to pick me up – but Rick was serious.

"And the more I was around them, the more I got to know Rick, the caring, loving, slightly-overprotective over-zealous father. Don't get me wrong, he could still be a self-centered jack-ass at times, but he was grateful for the help I was giving Alexis."

Beckett nodded. That was also one side of Castle that she loved.

"Anyway, a couple of months after Rick had stopped 'working' at the agency, he called me in a panic. Alexis was having a math meltdown and begged me to come over to help her. I did and we solved her problem. As a reward, we went out for ice cream and to the park. On the way back, we got caught in the shower and were soaked by the time we got back to his loft.

"His car wasn't large enough for my chair, so he called a car service to take me home, but there was this huge traffic jam because of the weather and they said they couldn't get there for about 2 hours. So he offered to wash and dry my hair for me and help me change my clothes so I wouldn't get chilled. And he did…he has great hands…and one thing led to another…" Libby blushed. "But I'm not sure you want to hear that part."

Kate blushed slightly too. "No, no, it's okay."

"Anyway, we dated for a couple of weeks and then I met Steve at one of Castle's poker parties, and the rest as they say is history."

Beckett nodded and thought for a moment. "Did you – did they ever consider Rick becoming an asset?" If he had, they would have never met.

Libby shrugged slightly. "Given his lineage, we thought about it, but like I said, some people have what it takes and some people don't in this line of work. We run very realistic scenarios – not realistic enough that they would permanently cripple or kill a person, but some of them can get very uncomfortable.

"When it came to men, Castle could give as good as he got, and with some pathologically evil twists thrown in at that. And he was good when the direct threats were either from men or women. But when it came to indirect threats, interrogating people who weren't directly involved, he was a big wuss when it came to women and teenagers. Didn't matter if they had just interrogated him – he froze when it came to interrogating them."

Libby paused. "The assessment was that Rick was too nice."

"So, Stumpy – how did Rick get that nickname?" Beckett asked, not sure she wanted to know.

Libby laughed. "That one is pretty funny in retrospect. Rick was always touching things he wasn't supposed to touch, so one of the techs decided to teach him a lesson and left a prototype wrist monitor out where he could find it. And Rick being Rick put it on. The only problem was that the locking device on it was broken and it wouldn't open up. The monitor cost about $500,000, so naturally, they threatened to cut off his hand to get the device off."

"Wow – so how long did that stop him?" Beckett asked.

"About half a minute," Libby replied. "Steve found a way to put a piece of reflective metal behind the monitor and use a laser to cut it off without harming Rick. So then afterward when Rick was playing with the piece of metal, he dropped it and cut his leg fairly badly, hence the nickname Stumpy."

She started to say something else when her phone chirped. She looked down at the number and smiled. "If you excuse me, I have to take this."

"Answer phone," Libby said into the mike by her head. "On speaker."

"Libby, dear, I just wanted to make sure you had a good flight back," came the voice on the other end.

"Yes, thanks, I did, Alice, although we've had a situation so we're going to be a little later than planned."

"No problem," Alice replied. "Why don't you just let Abby spend the night here? That will give you and Steve some alone time."

"Thanks, Alice. That would be great. Hey, is Peanut still up?" Libby asked.

"She's just getting ready for bed and I told her that we'd call and see if you were back yet. Here you go."

"MOMMYYYYYYYY!" came the excited squeal over the phone.

"Hey, peanut," Libby said. "I've missed you, baby."

"And I missed you too, mommy! Guess what! I'm going to be the frog in the school play!"

"That's wonderful," said Libby. "Daddy and I can't wait to see it."

"And me and Grandma Alice are making special welcome home pancakes in the morning just for you and daddy. I love you, mommy."

"I love you too, Peanut."

Alice came back on the line. "We'll see you in the morning. I'm glad you're back."

"Thanks, Alice. See you in the morning."

"Phone off," said Libby as she smiled at Kate. "And that is our little one, Abigail Grace Jenkins." She paused for a moment. "I guess Rick's eternal optimism rubbed off on me and I could see the possibilities of having a family after I met Steve."

Beckett nodded; similar thoughts had also crossed her mind.

"Libby, if it doesn't involve any classified information – and your having to kill me – how did Castle know what was happening and get in touch with the CIA?" she asked.

Libby paused for a moment. "We find our assets work best when their families are safe, so given the circumstances, we check in on Rick from time to time by monitoring his phone, so he called us after Dr. Parish told him about the will," she said simply.

"You listen in on Caste's phone calls?" Beckett asked, a shocked expression on her face. "And he knows?" Oh, she was so going to kill him.

"We monitor for phrases like 'ransom', 'kidnapping'," Libby responded as the van pulled to a stop and the door opened. "And, Kate, I dated Rick for a while, so I filter out certain types of calls."

# # # # # # # # # #

A man in a suit met them at the elevator and quickly escorted them to a hospital-type area.

"Hello, Dr. Jenkins," Libby said as she rolled into the room.

Steve turned from the table and smiled at his wife. "Well, hello, Dr. Jenkins," he said as he quickly crossed the room and kissed her. "I hope you had a good trip."

"Apparently less exciting than what went on here," she said and then looked around. "Where's Rick?"

"Oh, you know him – been poisoned, lost some blood, has 25 stitches, and he wanted to go check on some girl," commented Steve. "But I dosed him with pain killers and antibiotics and had the driver take him home instead since he didn't want to stay the night here."

Libby hummed at him and then looked at Beckett. "Steve, this is Kate Beckett, Rick's fiancée."

"Oh, you're the girl – nice to meet you," said Steve as he extended his hand to shake Beckett's. "You missed him by about half-an-hour. If I had known you were coming, I would have made him wait."

Beckett shook her head. "That's okay. I wasn't sure if I could get away when I found Libby's note."

"I'll have the car drop you off at the loft," said Libby.

"Thanks," Beckett replied.

"Oh, hey, if Rick has any strange symptoms – a rash, fever, unexplained twitching, or drooling – just give me a call," Steve said as he handed Beckett a card. "Otherwise, he should be out for most of the evening."

Beckett nodded. Maybe she'd call Lanie and have her spend the night at the loft also just in case.

# # # # # # # #

The rabbits jumping in Castle's head had gotten worse and he quickly realized he was in no condition to go back to the precinct that night. He was relieved when the car stopped at his building and the driver helped him up to the loft, leaving him at the front door. He assured the man he could make it inside by himself and he wouldn't be driving that night. At this point, he just wanted to lie down, roll over, and die.

He pressed his forward against the door as he put the key in the lock and turned it, glad to be greeted by silence. The CIA and FBI teams had moved the command center to the precinct before he had gone in, leaving no one at the loft at that point.

Castle slowly closed the door behind him and focused on the couch. He was sure he could make it that far before his legs gave out on him.

Once he reached the couch, he collapsed on it and closed his eyes. He'd just lay here for a while and wait for the world to stop spinning. Then he'd call Beckett – except he didn't have his phone, his weary mind reminded him. Peterson must have it.

Yeah, he'd have a white rabbit bring it over, Castle thought as he closed his eyes.

# # # # # # # # #

The next time he awoke, Castle found himself in bed, dressed in a t-shirt and sleep shorts, with no memory of how he had gotten there other than the fact he thought he had chased white rabbits the entire night.

His head still hurt, but not as bad as before and his mouth felt like it was full of cotton – what time was it? He squinted at the clock – 11 am? Was it that late?

He stared at Kate's side of the bed – it looked like it hadn't been slept in.

He had to call her, to tell her what was going on, but first, he really need to pee and brush his teeth and in that order.

Castle stumbled to the bathroom and closed his eyes as he stood over the toilet and groaned in relief. He then pried his eyes open, washed his hands, and picked up his toothbrush, adding toothpaste. He really needed a shower, but he needed to talk to Beckett more, to make sure things were right with them.

Eyes unfocused, he stared at the wall opposite the mirror while he brushed his teeth, until the wall behind him came into focus and he froze.

His robe was there, but Kate's was gone, and when he looked around the bathroom, he could see that other items of hers were gone also – her toothbrush, face wash, hair products, and bath gel. That wasn't a good sign.

Castle quickly spit out the toothpaste and dropped the toothbrush on the counter, rinsing his mouth out using one hand.

He paused as he opened the bedroom door and, gathering his courage, stepped out into the living room. He didn't hear any other sounds in the loft – Martha and Alexis weren't due back from their trip until tomorrow – so he was definitely alone.

But the thing that caught his attention was Beckett's key to the loft lying on the kitchen counter. Castle looked over to where she usually kept her purse and it was gone too.

He closed his eyes and dropped his head as he took several deep breaths. He had saved her but at the same time, had lost her, and he knew without a doubt that he'd do it all again if he had to.

Castle walked over to his liquor cabinet, poured himself a stiff drink, and then walked to the couch and sat down with a heavy heart.

# # # # # # # # #


	6. Chapter 6 True Confessions

**The Mettle of a Man **

Summary – How far would Castle go to protect his friends at the 12th and at what personal cost to himself and his relationship to the team? This takes place between "The Belly of the Beast" and "Veritas". Does not include any spoilers for "Veritas" but it does lead into it.

Author's notes – Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favs. Here's the final chapter and thanks for reading. My bad – I added more stuff to the scene at the loft because I wanted that scene to end on a cheerier note. And besides, what disguise would Castle use for a fake passport?

Disclaimer – Don't own Castle; Marlowe, ABC, and Disney do. Just writing for fun and because I have these weird plot bunnies that pop into my head (but not the same ones that Castle saw).

Rated strong T for language and innuendo.

**Chapter 6 – True Confessions**

Castle had been sitting on the couch for a while, his head dropped back against the padded top, eyes closed, the glass tilting precariously in his hand, when he heard noises upstairs and realized that he wasn't alone.

Martha or Alexis had probably come home at some point during the night and urged him to go to bed when they found him sleeping on the couch because they knew how grouchy he would be if he didn't.

He roused at the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.

"I'm not in the mood for talking," Castle said tiredly without bothering to open his eyes.

"Good, because that means I can get a word in edgewise," said Esposito as he took the glass out of Castle's hand. "Really, bro, you know better than this – are you seriously considered drinking with all the pain killers you took and whatever that was that made you think the loft was being overrun by giant rabbits last night? 'cus if you do, you may not be talking again."

Espo swirled the amber liquor around in the glass and then raise it to Castle. "On the other hand, I am in no pain, thanks to you." He took a sip and hummed appreciatively, "That's smooth."

During the detective's speech, Castle lifted his head and blinked his eyes several times, trying to bring the man into focus, maybe also trying to decide if he was a hallucination. "What..?" he coughed to clear his throat and then started again. "What are you doing here?"

"Beckett called Lanie when she got to the loft last night to check on you, and Lanie isn't letting me out of her sight just yet – not that I mind," Espo said with smile. "So we came over."

Castle straightened up and let out a slow breath – time to rip off the band aide that was covering the hole in his heart. "Did Kate say anything before she left?"

Espo thought for a moment but before he could say anything, Lanie came downstairs, wearing Kate's robe. "Javi, when you're out, can you stop by my place and pick up a shirt? Kate's are too small. Oh, you're up," she said as she reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Castle sitting on the couch, staring at her in surprise.

The ME quickly walked over to him and felt his forehead and cheek with the back of her hand. "How are you feeling, honey?" she said as she took his pulse.

"I'm not sure," Castle replied truthfully.

"Head still hurt?"

"A little," he said.

"Uh, huh," nodded Lanie as she leaned over to peer into his eyes, which Castle quickly averted. She straightened and smiled at him. "Dr. Jenkins said that 'good night' should be out of your system completely in 24 hours after exposure, but you shouldn't drive or make any major decisions for 48 hours just in case. And to avoid stimulants during that time also."

Castle nodded and swallowed. "Is that Kate's robe?" he asked hopefully.

Lanie nodded. "Yeah, it is. She said we could use the upstairs shower while she and Ryan ran to the store. They should be back any minute."

Right on cue, the door to the loft opened and Beckett and Ryan walked in with several bags of groceries.

A radiant smile lit up her face when Beckett saw Castle sitting on the couch. She quickly deposited her bags on the counter and walked over to him, bending over to kiss him on the lips. "Hey," she said softly as she brought a hand up to caress his cheek, still smiling. "We were out of coffee and I didn't make it to the grocery store last night because I was kinda tied up."

"Hey," Castle replied, trying not to tear up in relief. Crap, when did he grow a vagina and get so emotional?

"So how are you feeling?" Beckett said as she straightened up, reaching down to take his pulse also. "No more rabbits playing laser tag?"

"No." Castle frowned. "But did I win?" he asked.

Beckett shrugged. "You'd have to ask the rabbits."

"Thanks, but I'd rather not see them again," said Castle, shaking his head.

"We missed dinner, so I'm making breakfast," Beckett said as she kissed him on the head. "Anything special that you want?"

Castle sniffed himself. "Probably a shower," he said. He did smell rather ripe according to his nose. At Lanie's lifted eyebrow and pointed look, he quickly added morosely, "Alone."

Beckett smiled and kissed him again. "It's only 48 hours," she whispered in his ear.

Castle pressed his lips together. "Definitely a cold shower," he muttered to himself as he stood and walked back into the bedroom.

# # # # # # #

By the time Castle had showered and changed, Beckett had finished making breakfast and the team was sitting at the table, laughing.

Crap, Castle thought as he stood at the door watching them, trying not to tear up again – this was a side effect that Peterson had failed to mention. He put on a smile and walked into the room.

"Hey, Castle," said Ryan. "Beckett was just explaining how you got the nickname 'Stumpy'."

"No wonder my ears were burning," Castle said as he sat down at the table.

Beckett put a cup of coffee in front of him. "It's decaf," she said as she scooted her chair closer and sat down next to him.

Castle passed on the food because his stomach still felt a little off. "So how did Gates take everything?" he finally asked after they had eaten a couple of bites.

Ryan and Espo looked at each other and shrugged.

"Well, in the beginning, when SWAT came into the room, she was so mad that I thought she was going to have a stroke," said Ryan. "Then Beckett disappeared, so we weren't sure what was going on."

"But the police commissioner explained what had happened and I think she was a little impressed," said Espo.

"You know, that was so well put together" said Ryan, pointing his fork at Castle, "you could have had a career as a con artist."

Beckett laughed. "Don't encourage him. I'd rather not spend my marriage making conjugal visits to a prison."

"And the thing with the bank account and the passports," said Espo. "That was just perfect. That really showed them that you meant business. How on earth did you know what guy to use?"

Castle stared at the cup of coffee in his hands for a moment. "A good lie is always grounded in some truth," he said seriously.

The team frowned at him curiously.

"I am helping Brandy with a book and we did discuss a sex scene, so the note was real," he said and then put a hand up in defense at Beckett's sharp intake of air. "All I told her was that only reason to put a sex scene in a book was if it was a natural extension of the characters. Otherwise, it's forced and hurts the flow of the story." He shrugged. "Not every book needs a sex scene in it."

Castle paused for a moment. "And I did take $500,000 out of a bank account earlier this week. And I did buy fake passports from Sly – 12 of them to be exact."

"Castle, what are you thinking! That's 120 years!" Beckett exclaimed.

Castle shook his head, smiling knowingly like he held an unbeatable poker hand. "Actually, no, because I have a signed document from the US government that I cannot be prosecuted for having those passports as well as anyone who uses them. Sorenson wasn't too happy, but he agreed with my reason."

He stood and walked over to the kitchen counter, then opened the second drawer and reached inside and pulled out a packet.

"I was going to give these to you last night after the poker game," he said as he opened the packet and gave each person an envelope marked with their name. "There's one here for your dad also, Kate."

They looked at each other and then opened the envelopes.

Lanie gasped when she saw what was inside. "Castle, you shouldn't have. I can't take this."

"No, I should have and you can. Someone once told me that there's another world out there, one that most people don't see, run by money, influence, power, and the people in it will do anything they can to stay on top." He sat back down at the table. "Which includes getting rid of any obstacles in their way."

Castle thought a moment. "After the botched narcotics investigation, I thought that Bracken could and most likely will come after any member of this team and their families – we're obstacles because we know too much. So I wanted to make sure that you could go off grid for a while if you have to."

"Bro, I don't know what to say," said Espo.

"Let's just hope we don't have to use them," said Castle, holding his breath as he watched Kate open her passport.

Ryan looked at him thoughtfully. "Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but what did Sly mean when he mentioned a new blonde girlfriend?"

"What the hell, Castle?" Beckett said as she looked at the picture in the passport and then at him, holding it out towards him. "This doesn't look like me."

"Well, it will with some enhancements," said Castle, smiling disarmingly at her. "If we have to use these, we'll need to get around facial recognition; otherwise, they'll be able to track us."

He slid three photographs towards her. "So I have a friend photoshop two pictures together – one of you and one of Brandy."

The first one was the official photograph of Beckett taken for the NYPD. The second one was a selfie that Castle had taken of himself and Brandy. The final one was a compilation of the two that showed Castle with the buxom blonde who had Beckett's face.

"Whoa, Beckett, is that you?" Espo asked when he saw the photograph, his eyes almost popping out of his head.

"That's the one I gave to Sly to use," Castle confessed. "It could certainly fool facial recognition."

"So could a pair of big sunglasses and a scarf," Beckett said, raising an eyebrow at Castle. "Now I know what I'd look like if I had married Biff Tannen."

"But that looks like you're hiding. I'm thinking a blonde wig and some…" Castle gestured with his hands.

Beckett snorted at him and picked up his passport. "And what picture did you use so people don't recognize you?" She had to stifle a laugh when she saw it and then looked at him with a smirk.

"Mustache and full beard," Castle said proudly as he took the passport and held it up beside his face and waggled his eyebrows.

"So you're automatically going to sprout facial hair while we're trying to flee the country or is your mom going to meet you with a fake beard?" Beckett asked, slightly amused.

"Don't ruin my pictures with your logic," Castle said, making a face. He thought for a moment and added, "I'll call Sly and have him change the pictures."

"Good idea, kitten," Beckett said as she leaned forward to kiss him.

They touched foreheads briefly as they both whispered, "I thought I'd lost you."

"Never," they both whispered again at the same time, smiling at each other.

# # # # # # # #

While Beckett was giving her statement to the authorities about what had happened at the precinct, Castle walked across the street to the small coffee shop where Captain Gates was waiting for him.

With Gate's choice of this particular location, he knew she wanted to keep this conversation private and off the record.

He spotted her quickly and walked to the table she sat.

"Captain," Castle said, nodding at her and waiting for her invitation to sit down.

"Mr. Castle, please take a seat," Gates replied, gesturing at the empty chair across from her. "I just wanted to thank you for what you did for the team – our team. If you hadn't taken the actions you did, I am sure that the results would have been far different."

The writer shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure everyone got out alive."

"Still, you put yourself at great personal risk." Gates looked at him. "You could have waited for SWAT to handle the situation."

Castle shook his head, frowning, as he took a sip from his mug that the barista had brought over. "There wasn't enough time and they wouldn't have been fast enough when they did breach the bullpen."

"Because this…event…is what it is, there will be no public record of it," continued Gates.

"And I won't get a gold star," quipped Castle. He studied the captain for a minute. "But that's not why you asked to meet here."

"No," said Gates, shaking her head. "It's about those fake passports that 'Sly' said you bought. You do realize that is highly illegal."

"I have a note from the principal," Castle quipped. He sat back in his chair, contemplating his coffee before looking at Gates. "I can't help but think that the botched narcotics investigation was either a spectacular failure by people desperate to bring down a drug organization or a spectacular success by people desperate to level the playing field. Either way," he said, looking her straight in the eye and unwavering, "Captain Gates – Victoria, I will do everything I can to make sure that this team – that Kate is safe – everything," he emphasized.

Castle paused for a moment before pulling an envelope out of his pocket. "And that includes the entire team," he said as he held out the envelope.

Gates studied him in return and then finally shook her head. "Thank you for that thought, Mr. Castle. But if something happens, you'll need someone here to ride shotgun on the investigation. As Roy Montgomery said, 'the best that you can hope for is that you find some place where you can make your stand'." She paused for a moment. "Just be sure to stay in touch."

Gates got up to leave. "And we've never had this conversation."

She paused as she walked past him and then put a hand on his shoulder. "Rick, just make sure you don't wait too late."

**# # # # # # # # # #**

_**The End**_

Author's Notes – Now we just have to wait and see what AM does to end this arc.


End file.
